


Surprise!

by WhisperingShadowLullabies



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Nico is 13 okay don't be creepy, Past Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Some fighting, This takes place at the end of b5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-04
Updated: 2015-08-04
Packaged: 2018-04-12 21:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4495563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperingShadowLullabies/pseuds/WhisperingShadowLullabies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a huge fight with Annabeth, Chiron sends Percy and Nico on a little vacation to Sally's. With their dads watching with interest, Percy and Nico have a fun time!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise!

**Author's Note:**

> I just kinda put this at the end of the Last Olympian because I didn't want to mess with Heros of Olympus. So Percy is 16 and Nico is 13. Now I am not one for underage so I promise it doesn't go very far at all, I swear!

The fight was probably inevitable. Nico should have seen the signs a week in advance; but he didn’t.  He was taking a nice stroll through the camp right before lights out, the stars shining high above in numerous patterns. He could even make out his sisters constellation if he tried. He wanted to chill with Percy and point out all the constellations that he knew so well. (Because he knew Percy didn’t know any of them and boasting was a great thing.) He brushed his dark shoulder length hair out of his eyes as he headed off towards Fireworks Beach; where Percy liked to spend most of his free time.  Shadows practically danced around him as he walked, campers from all cabins walking the other direction, towards the cabins. The trees of the north woods danced as a small breeze fluttered through, making Nico pull his aviator jacket closer around his body. As he reached the beach he could see Percy and Annabeth standing near the shore line, their bodies silhouettes in the moon light. Nico was less than 30 feet away when he stopped. They weren’t talking to each other; they were _yelling_ at each other.  Nico crouched down where he was and strained his ears to listen.

“You know Annabeth I know that I’m not as “smart” as you, but the least you could do is stop talking to me like I’m still a little kid! Sorry that for the first twelve years of my life I lived as a normal kid and you somehow can’t grasp that!” Percy’s voice shook as his words flew at Annabeth. Nico squinted trying to make out their faces only to be met with darkened forms.

“Maybe I could treat you like an adult if you acted like one! Percy this, Percy that! Sometimes I wonder if you have room for anyone but yourself! All that’s in that head of yours is air and seaweed!” Annabeth threw the words back at Percy, with just as much anger as Percy had. Nico found himself leaning in closer, on his hunches, perplexed by the fight.

“You know what Annabeth? I think I’m starting to understand why our parents hate each other. You really are just a spoiled brat! Go off to Aphrodite’s cabin if you want to hear all about how great you are because I can’t seem to think of anything pleasing about _you_!” Annabeth took a step back as Percy’s voice rose higher. Nico couldn’t see much, but he could see her fists were clenched. 

“Fine! Maybe they will at least treat me like more of a companion and less of a sidekick! Consider us over Perseus!” Annabeth screamed in frustration and stormed off, not even noticing Nico sitting in shock on the ground. His eyes turned back to Percy, who shouted back,

“ _Vilis!_ ” Percy’s arms flew up in frustration, water exploding behind him in a titling crash. Annabeth didn’t turn but if she had looked, Nico’s eyes were the size of saucers. He didn’t know much Latin but he was pretty sure that was really offensive. He watched as Percy turned and stormed into the ocean, the waves bending around him until he was completely submerged in the water. Nico decided that he would wait however long for his crush to come out from the tumbling, foaming sea.

Percy was about the exact opposite of cool; he was fuming. No fish dared to swim any closer to the boy who sat at the sandy bottom of the ocean. His mind was reeling over Annabeth and everything that had happened. He decided it must have all started the second that she said that she would love to go see a movie with him. Their first date. It had been fine, by all standards, but it was wrong. Even then, Percy didn’t feel right. He had always idolized Annabeth and never dreamed of her actually wanting to be with a looser like him, and to be honest he had figured it was too good to be true. Apparently it had been. They did couples things, whatever the Aphrodite cabin members threw at them, and it had been great. But Percy had always felt just a little, well, off. Annabeth always seemed to be just a little annoyed with Percy no matter what he did. They seemed to argue about the littlest things and never seemed to agree on anything unless it was in battle. Everyone had said they looked cute together and they took pride in proving their parents wrong; Aphrodite’s blessing on them. But it wasn’t meant to be. It had really started to go wrong after Percy had made another hateful comment on Clarisse and Annabeth had snapped at him. He had asked her what he’d done wrong, but she refused to speak to him. She continued to give him the silent treatment until Percy had got so fed up; he pulled her aside and demanded she explain. But, she just stormed away and Percy was feeling less than pleased with her attitude. So when she showed up to finally talk to him, he went off on her. The fight got out of hand and had ended with Percy sitting at the bottom of the ocean, contemplating whether or not he should play a nasty prank on her.

He didn’t know how long he had sat down there, but he eventually cooled down enough to want to go sleep it off. As he stood nearby fish swam away. Percy moved the currents around him and slowly drifted to the surface. He stepped onto the beach, still as dry as he had been when he entered, and made his way to the cabins; before the harpies decided to eat him as a late night snack. Riptide felt heavy in his pocket as he walked through the sand and he almost hit his leg on what he thought was a rock. He bent down to inspect this “rock” but it turned out to be a very asleep Nico. His legs were hugged tightly to his chest while his face rested on his knees, the poor kid had passed out. Percy smiled to himself as he reached and carefully picked the small boy up. As he walked back to the cabins he started to wonder what Nico had been doing asleep on the beach in the middle of the night, but he figured he probably was just star gazing. As Percy reached the cabins he realized that he really didn’t want to walk all the way across the courtyard to get to Hades cabin and decided to gamble instead. Poseidon’s cabin, his own, was right there and honestly he knew it was against the rules, but he was too tired to care. As he entered he spoke out a plea,

“Hey dad, I’d like to ask for your okay on Nico spending the night here…” he waited but even from the windows he could see that the ocean had made no protest. “I’m going to take that as a yes.” He had crashed a bunch of times at Nico’s cabin because his dad hadn’t said anything either on the matter. They were pretty sure that the other cabins knew about it, but no one really cared if it wasn’t harming anything and the Gods were okay with it. After taking his jacket off, Percy laid Nico down gently on the bed adjacent to his, covering him in the warm, dark blue blanket. Percy felt oddly better having Nico there, since Tyson was off in the forges working, leaving him all alone in the number three cabin again. As he pulled his own sheets up, his eyes felt droopy with excursion from the day. With Nico’s small breaths and the ocean waves in the background, Percy fell into a comfortable sleep. Of course, no Demigod can sleep without a dream or two.

He found himself at a small coffee shop outside of Paris, the sunlight bringing warmth to his bones and making him feel at home almost instantly. He looked to see who was waiting for him in the other seat at the wire table and almost cringed. Aphrodite looked beautiful as always and she was radiating an aura of confidence. But it was her cold stare and frown that had Percy ready to wake up from this dream already. She lifted a cup of tea that Percy hadn’t seen just before and took a winding sip. She cleared her throat and took a shuddering breath, before turning to eye Percy.

“You, Perseus Jackson, are an awful excuse for a man.” Percy took a slow blink as he processed that.

“Uh, what exactly did I do this time?”

“You disrespected that young maiden and threw her out like a piece of trash! I had so much hope for you two and, of course, you had to be a boy and messed it all up! There’s only so much my children and I can do to help horrible men like you.”

“Hey, she broke up with me, I’ll have you know. Plus, I don’t think you fully understand that she was the one who decided to…”

“Even now you are blaming her! I can see that you weren’t faking your stupidity! I will have you know that your love luck has officially run out. Good luck Percy; I hope you enjoy being alone.”

With that Aphrodite was gone and so was the peaceful atmosphere of Paris. Percy swirled off into the deeper abyss of sleep wishing that things had gone differently with Annabeth, because now he had Ares _and_ his girlfriend on his back.

***

Poseidon didn’t particularly like going to visit his brother, especially when the other was enough to deal with on a daily basis, but never the less he made the decent into the underworld. He bypassed security, threw a rubber fish at Cerberus, (who barked back happily) and passed by the millions of dead in The Fields of Asphodel, up to his brothers office. Persephone looked unappealing at Poseidon as he passed, tending to her small allotted garden, its beauty still startling in such a dreary place. Hades was turned, his oily black hair hung at his shoulders loosely. Contrary to Poseidon’s summer get-up of his typical Hawaiian shirt and fishing shorts, Hades was wearing his black robes.  (The ones laced with evil souls threaded into the cloth) He spun, his void eyes meeting Poseidon’s ocean green ones, and waved him over.

“It took me a lot of searching, but I was able to get this old Hephaestus TV to play the footage from that camera we set up.  They are as boring as always, like I said they would be, but apparently my opinion still means absolutely nothing.” Poseidon hushed his brother and looked at the old TV screen. There it was streaming live feed from one of the two cameras that Hades had set up when no one was looking. On the screen was the inside of his cabin from Camp Half-Blood, with their sons fast asleep in the beds. Poseidon smiled at the image and turned back to Hades.

“I heard from one of my stationed hippocampi that Percy and Annabeth had quite the fight on the beach tonight and somebody lost a girlfriend.”

“Dating that nymph again? You’re going to get caught, you know.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Well I guess it’s up to Nico to work this out because we know Percy’s not going to. That boy knows less about romance than he does about his Greek heritage.”

Poseidon’s booming laugh filled the dark cave like office. “Now all we need is Aphrodite to stop being a trout and help us get this rolling! What do you think is our next step?”

“Send them to Sally’s. If anyone can help them out it’s that poor boy’s mother. And we don’t need that woman’s help she has nothing good to offer.”

“Is that so? How this?”

Aphrodite stood at the entrance holding a worn journal in her freshly manicured hands. Poseidon and Hades looked at each other as the woman drew closer.  The journal was leather bound and clearly well loved, evidence in the wear of it. She placed the book in Poseidon’s hands, smirking as surprise washed over his features. In the front cover scrawled in cursive was a name he was quite familiar with.

_Percy Jackson_

“Where did you find this?” Poseidon asked, but Hades butt in before she could answer,

“Your son has a diary? Really? And this whole time you thought he was straight, Aphrodite? I take full credit for all of this because I called this _ages_ ago.” After receiving rather hateful glares from the other Gods, he shut up. Aphrodite sighed and started picking at her nails.

“He likes to call it his record journal but, yes, it is basically his diary. Honestly Poseidon, It was in his locked desk drawer,” She leaned in, uncomfortably close, “Where all men hide their secrets.” Suddenly she clapped her hands. “Now! Are we going to read it or not?” The Gods grinned to each other as they flipped through the pages. They kept going until they got to where Nico started to become a frequent participant. Poseidon read his son’s text out to the other two,

“ _Today I stole another miniature speaker from the Hephaestus cabin and took Nico out to Zeus’s Fist where Grover helped me set up a picnic. The look on Nico’s Face was priceless like he’d just won a new car! I figured that he probably never had a picnic before and I think I was right! I set my Ipod up and we ate the sandwiches that Juniper helped me make. For a wood nymph, she’s really good at making sandwiches! It was so much fun to spend time with Nico and not have to worry about all the crazy things that happen to us. Sometimes I wish Annabeth would be as understanding as Nico is. He just gets it. Sometimes I wonder if things were different if Nico would be interested in me. Not that he would… I barely got Annabeth to go out with me there’s no way that Nico would, but I think that I would much prefer him.”_

”So who’s going to top?”

Black and green eyes met ever changing ones rather sharply. Poseidon and Hades looked at each other before turning back to Aphrodite, who wore a dazzling smile. Hades pursed his lips,

“Nico is strong and he’s smart.”

“Percy is older, therefore wiser and smarter.”

“Nico is cunning and brave.”

“Percy has kindness and loyalty.”

  “Boys please! There’s no need to fight about it. We will know in due time because really, it’s up to them. One or the other… Or both.” Aphrodite waved her hand absently as both gave a puzzling stare.

“Both?” Poseidon and Hades said at the same time. A playful look played in Goddesses eyes.

“For some it depends on the day. The position can switch you know.” This answer seemed to satisfy the Gods and they slowly turned back to the TV screen. Both boys were still fast asleep in their beds, except Nico’s form had began to writhe underneath the bed sheets. They watched silently as the boy sat straight up in bed with a look of frightened horror on his face, breathing deeply. He slowly got out of the bed and crept over to Percy, where he mumbled something. The camera didn’t pick it up, the Gods leaning in closer as if they would be able to hear. Percy seemed to shift a little and they watched as Nico climbed under the blankets with him. A collective “aww” sounded around the dreary office as Nico managed to fit himself into Percy’s arms and fell back asleep almost instantly.  Poseidon glanced down at his water proof watch and stood, patting his brother on the back.

“I must be going, but keep me posted!” Hades nodded, finally drawing his eyes away from the small screen.  Aphrodite was already at the door looking as stunning as she always did.

“Indeed. I can feel something is going to happen between the two of them soon. Farwell!” With a graceful turn she was gone leaving the brothers grinning at each other. Poseidon winked and swiftly left, leaving only a faint sea breeze in his wake.  

***

The persistent knocking was the most annoying sound to wake up to; especially when it happened almost every morning. A muffled “Percy!” came from outside the door and the one in question groaned. Nico was still fast asleep, his leg wrapped around Percy’s, and his face resting on his collarbone. Blissful innocence graced his features, small puffs of breath warming Percy’s neck, and making it all the more harder to get up. Percy was beginning to shift, but Nico’s fist gripped onto his sleep shirt. Slowly Nico’s think lashes parted to reveal his sleepy, coal black eyes. He looked at Percy and instantly a cherry blush spread across his cheeks.  Percy chuckled and stifled a yawn as the knocking at the door became more rapid. Grover burst in to the room looking frazzled as always and a little annoyed.

“Percy get up! Chiron wants you at the Big House pronto! Oh sorry…” Grover backed up a little, his goat hooves clopping on the wooden floor. This was the first time that Nico had ever stayed in Percy’s cabin and clearly Grover thought he was walking in on something, again.

“I got it Grover, just give me a second.” Grover blushed a little and nodded, backing out to wait outside. “Honestly I don’t know why he always freaks out. This isn’t the first time he’s walked in on us sleeping in the same bed.” Percy mumbled as he untangled himself from Nico, who huffed in response.

“Well you do have a girlfriend, you probably shouldn’t be sleeping with me, course it’s probably my fault for climbing in all the time.” Percy laughed as he pulled his pants on. Nico took his time admiring from the back because it really was a wonderful sight to behold for a closeted homosexual. He waited and watched as Percy took his sleep shirt off, revealing his strong back muscles. Swinging the Riptide around had been good to him, that’s for sure. Nico dreamily imagined what it would be like to run his fingers over those, tracing every line and scar. He was snapped out of his daze when Percy slipped on the typical bright orange camp shirt.

“I did have a girlfriend; not anymore. Anyways! I got to get going so I’ll hopefully see you around after, that is if Chiron doesn’t kill me of course. You can chill here however long you want, I don’t really care. Bye!” he waved as he ran out of the cabin, closing the door behind him. Nico decided that he would go back to sleep surrounded by blankets that smelled like his favorite half-blood.

Grover didn’t say anything as they tracked the worn path over to The Big House. As they crossed the creak, Percy noticed how many campers were up and running around. The river helped him wake up, the water pulsing to him. He still got a few stares from new campers when his clothes were still perfectly dry when they reached the other side. Grover waved and ran off back to the other side of the river to the strawberry fields were. Percy watched as juniper emerged and they ran off together. He couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of his friend. Percy chalked it up to his awful luck and speed walked up to the porch of The Big House. There, Mr. D and Chiron were playing pinochle and idly chatting about resent weather phenomenon. Chiron grinned at Percy as he walked up, his bottom half hidden within the wheelchair.

“Percy, I hoped I could have a quick word with you.” Percy nodded as he sat down turning distastefully from Mr. D. “Now, I know that you are one of Nico Di Angelo’s only friends here. My concern for the boy is that he no longer has family other than his father and I think something needs to be established. I was wondering if you would be interested in taking a little vacation up to see your mother; your father advised taking Nico with you.” Percy’s eyes widened to the size of plates as he processed what his camp activities director had just said.

“yeah, I mean, yes of course! That would be awesome! Totally!” Percy’s grin almost matched Chiron’s as he leapt from the table and rushed to get back to his cabin. Chiron yelled from the porch,

“Send an IM to your mother!”  Percy turned and smiled back at Chiron as he ran across the river and back to the mass of cabins. As expected, Nico had fallen back asleep surrounded by fluffy blankets. Percy rummaged through his pockets looking for a drachma, to no avail. He carefully took a key out from the inside of The Minotaur horn hanging on his wall. He slowly went to the bedside table closest to his bunk and unlocked it. His journal was right where it should be, as well as a few gold drachmas. He mumbled something along the lines of “jackpot!” and rushed to the small coral fountain that had since been repaired from last summer and threw the coin in.

“Oh Goddess, please accept my offering. Show me Sally Jackson.” The drachma disappeared and the rainbow mist shivered and showed his mom baking something in the kitchen. He waited for her to set the hot tray down before speaking up.

“Hey, mom!” She turned almost instantly a look of shock and happiness on her face.

“Oh Percy! It’s so good to see you! What’s wrong?” the worried look on her face made Percy laugh. He turned and made sure that Nico was still asleep before turning back to his mom.

“Nothing’s wrong mom I swear. It’s just that Chiron said that I can come up and visit you and said I should call you beforehand. Oh and I needed to check and make sure it’s okay that I bring a friend.” Percy rocked back and forth on his heels as his mom seemed to process what he had said. She laughed,

“That’s fine Percy! Although, can I know who it is before you pop in?” Percy was about to answer before he was startled by Nico peeking out from behind him. Percy stepped aside and gave Nico a push forward, slightly afraid for Nico’s reaction; after all, he hadn’t really run the idea past Nico first. Nico gave a small smile and waved at Sally.

“Oh Nico! It’s good to see you again!” Sally laughed “Paul will come home from the store soon, so I hope you don’t mind. When should I expect you here by?” Percy pondered if he could trick Nico into going the fast way. He definitely wouldn’t like it but…

“Later today, around lunch, I think.” Percy winked before the mist disappeared leaving them standing at the saltwater fountain.  Nico turned and gave a questioning glare, Percy giving him a grin about the size of the US. “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up, but we are going on a little vacation to chill with my mom. We better head out soon if we are going to get there by lunch time! My mom makes the best sandwiches.”

“Can we eat breakfast first? Also, mind telling me what you’re planning? Why am I coming?” Percy laughed as they walked out of the cabin towards the Mess Hall. Nico groaned when Percy didn’t answer any of his questions, grabbing his plate and sitting at his table. He eyed Percy from across the Hall, angry because he wasn’t telling him anything and that Percy was sitting alone at his table too. Nico hadn’t been here long but the rule stating that kids from other cabins can’t sit at any table but their own was stupid; especially for Percy and Nico because they had to eat alone. Nico came to the conclusion that whatever Percy was planning was probably not good. “Lunch time” was in about 3 hours. They could get there instantly if Percy would just let him shadow travel them there, but it made Percy nauseous and it made him super tired. Although as far as he knew, Percy’s apartment didn’t have a guest room and that meant it was likely that he would get to snuggle with him again. Nico’s temper calmed down and he stopped stabbing his eggs and started actually eating them. 

After grabbing his sword, Nico blindly followed Percy back to Fireworks Beach without realizing it. He may or may not have been very distracted from the view he got from watching Percy from the back. However the second they reached the beach a frown grew from his lips. He had a _very_ bad feeling about this.

“You know I get sea sick you twerp.” He turned to Percy with his hands on his hips. Percy stifled a giggle and held out his hand.

“I don’t think you will get sick this time. I’m going to try something different.” Nico didn’t like the smile on The Sea God’s sons face one bit and he instantly wanted to slap it off. He gingerly took the hand that had been extended towards him and was tugged closer and closer to the salty ocean water. As they went deeper into the tide Nico shivered, his pants now sopping wet, and started glaring into the back of Percy’s head. Maybe it would blow up if he stared hard enough. When they were about waist deep in the water Percy suddenly turned and grabbed Nico’s other hand.  He flipped and pulled Nico onto his back in one swift motion and suddenly it felt like Nico was riding a dolphin or something. He wrapped his arms around Percy’s neck as they picked up speed. Percy was completely underwater with Nico riding on top, as if he was riding a horse.  They were going about the speed of a boat, Nico guessed, and it was refreshing and terrifying at the same time. Percy was right, however; he wasn’t sea sick. Just very afraid he was going to fly off.  Stupid son of Poseidon; thinking that this would be faster than just taking a car. Nico was pretty much soaked from head to toe, but with the sea air whipping past he was dry as soon as he got wet. It was a never ending cycle. After about an hour Percy suddenly flipped and Nico was now positioned on his lap. He grinned at him from underneath the water and popped his head up.

“How’s it going up there?” he smiled and as much as Nico wanted to hit him, that stupid grin on his face made his anger steam down, if only a little.

“I’m all freaking wet how do you think it’s going?!”  

“Well you haven’t thrown up yet so I’m going to guess pretty swell. “

“I literally hate you so much right now.”

“I knew there was a reason I didn’t tell you my plans back at the camp! Aw come on its not that bad! Don’t give me that pouty face!” He laughed as Nico turned and stuck his lip out. If he wasn’t holding on to Percy’s shirt for dear life he would have crossed his arms. It did occur to him that he was now stationed on Percy’s lap and was almost eye to eye with him, but he didn’t dwell on that too long. He really didn’t want to explain _that_.  But on the other hand, Percy’s hand was on his hip and it was _very_ distracting. He told himself it was probably just for stability, but that didn’t stop him from leaning slightly into the touch. When he turned his eyes back to Percy he had a look of curiosity on his face and he seemed to be looking straight through Nico. Their eyes locked together and Nico let out a small gasp. Percy’s eyes were absolutely stunning with the waters reflection bouncing off of them. They shone a beautiful shade of aquatic green. They seemed to sparkle just as much as the water around them did. Percy smiled at the look of awe on Nico’s face and flipped back around before Nico could say anything. Nico latched on again and closed his eyes; the ride no longer such a burden.

From The East River, to Flushing Bay, and into Flushing Creek they finally stepped out after 2 hours.  Percy had willed himself to get wet at the last moment to insure that no one would ask questions. Sopping wet and slightly tired they trudged up to College Point Boulevard. Percy seemed to know what he was doing so Nico just followed him. They called a taxi and Percy gave the directions to his mom’s apartment.  It took about 20 minutes and after Percy paid the driver, (Where the money came from Nico didn’t know) they took the elevator up to the right floor. Just before Nico was about to knock on the door, getting mad about still being dripping with water, Percy grabbed his arm. He grinned and pulled Riptide out.

“Let’s scare the crap out of whoever answers the door!”Nico’s displeased glare made Percy pout “Oh come on! It’ll be so funny! What if when they opened the door I had you pinned on the ground? Wouldn’t that be hilarious?!” The pout combined with the words “pinned on the ground” made Nico let out a rather large sigh and pulled his Stygian iron sword out.  Percy clicked the Riptide open and winked before charging at an unusually fast speed. Nico, still tired from the prolonged swim, barely managed to rise to defend himself. He backed up, but Percy managed to twist the sword out of his grasp. He rushed again and Nico fell onto the carpeted hallway floor. Breathing heavily he glanced at Riptide that was now at his throat. Percy’s face was inches from his and, to be honest, Nico was just a little turned on. They heard the door open and Paul Blofis ramble out,

“Oh my god! What is happening here! Jesus Christ!”

Percy winked again and sat back, clicking Riptide away. Nico laid there on the floor for a moment, tired and sexually frustrated, before sitting up and grabbing his sword. Paul was still sputtering in the door as Percy and Nico brushed past to meet up with Sally. She ran to them and almost gave Percy a hug before reconsidering because of the fact that he was still all wet.

“What is wrong with you two? Scaring your step-dad like that; Percy you know better! Oh but it’s so good to see you! Dare I ask why you are all wet?” Nico answered with a straight face before Percy could,

“I went surfing on my new Percy-torpedo; that’s why.”  Percy burst out laughing and Nico smiled, proud that his joke had been successful. Sally shook her head and told them to go upstairs and get a change of clothes on before lunch. Percy bounded down the hallway and turned into his room, Nico on his tail ready for some dry clothes. He didn’t process immediately that he would have to borrow some from Percy, but when it hit him he got all warm inside. After shutting the door, Percy started rummaging through drawers until he found some pajama pants and a large sweatshirt, which he threw at Nico, who looked at the clothes before looking back at Percy.  Percy smiled before looking for himself. After a nervous glance at his crush Nico turned and pulled his sticky shirt off before turning back around.

“Where do I put this?” Percy turned to tell where but his words got caught in his throat. Nico was pale and lean but that didn’t take away from his appearance.  Beads of leftover water trailed down his fit torso, his hair was severely windblown. Percy turned quickly his heart still pounding and mumbled,

“There’s a basket near the door. I’ll have my mom wash everything.” He hoped that Nico couldn’t see the blush that had spilled across his face. Annabeth was beautiful, that was obvious, but Nico was something else. He was… Natural. He didn’t try to look good, he just was. Many people were afraid of him because from a glance he looked like the epitome of death. But no one got to see him when he was vulnerable or innocent like Percy did. After Nico had forgiven him for loosing Bianca, he had began to open up again. It was nice, those days where they would just hang out together and talk about everything. They knew almost everything about each other. He and Annabeth had never done anything like that. For her it was always about the things he could do for her. After that underwater kiss they had shared, that seemed to be the only thing she ever wanted from him. Percy realized how messed up that relationship had been. He took his shirt and went to throw it into the basket when he happened to, literally, run into Nico. Nico immediately flailed his arms to stabilize himself and ended up putting his arms around Percy, in an accidental hug. Percy’s heart was pounding with the amount skin on skin happening, his hands landing on Nico’s hips again. Nico pulled back and looked Percy with wide eyes, his breath ragged.  Percy took a shuddering breath and leaned down just enough so he was eye to eye with Nico. They stared at each other for was seemed like a millennium before Nico’s eyes drifted to Percy’s lips. He licked his own in response before he leaned the rest of the distance and pressed his to Percy’s. Eyes fluttering closed; Nico realized he had no idea what he was doing but Percy clearly did, so he let him take the lead. As they pressed harder, with more force, Nico’s arms trailed up Percy’s back. He had longed dreamed of this moment and it was just as amazing as he imagined. Percy’s tongue flickered out asking permission and Nico obliged instantly. Nico’s back hit the door as the battle began. Percy’s hands had begun to wander and Nico broke, breath ragged, and sagged in Percy’s arms.

“Wait. Lunch first.” Percy’s earthy chuckle sounded next to his ear and he pulled back, a cheeky grin on his face.

“Fine by me. Just stop being so distracting or we’ll never get dressed.” Nico laughed at that before they separated. Nico pulled the sweatshirt on and was overwhelmed by how much it smelled like the ocean; Like Percy. Percy pulled a tee-shirt on and a blue jacket that Nico had seen him wear many times before. He looked at the pajama pants Percy had thrown at him and smiled at the fact that they were covered in pictures of little seashells. Even though his underwear was still wet he slipped the pants on as quickly as he could, hoping that Percy didn’t see.  When he turned back Percy had changed into sweatpants, smiling at Nico. Just then, a knock came from the other side of the door. Sally opened it to reveal a plate full of sandwiches.

“I figured you boys wouldn’t want to eat with Paul and I, especially after you scared him so bad! Oh I’ll take that sweetie.” She gestured towards Nico’s sword that now lay on Percy’s already messy floor. Nico looked at Percy, who shrugged, before handing the sword to Sally. “It will be in the umbrella rack dear. Now eat up!” she set the plate down on Percy’s bed and left, shutting the door on the way out. Percy sat down on the floor, his back resting against the bed frame, pulling the plate down. Nico rushed over and sat down, both of them grabbing a sandwich and eating hungrily. It was only like 11:40 but the breakfast had not held well. Percy hadn’t been lying when he had said his mom’s sandwiches were awesome. Percy laughed and Nico turned to look at him. Percy licked his finger and wiped some mayonnaise off of Nico’s face. His face turned red and he turned away, making Percy only laugh harder. Nico couldn’t say like that for long though, his own giggles coming out from Percy’s infectious laughter.  It was just like that picnic that Percy made for him back at Camp Half-Blood. Through all the snorting, he noticed something sitting on Percy’s bedside table.

“Hey what’s that?” he pointed and Percy looked. Almost instantly the blood drained from his face as he reached up and grabbed it. On it there lay a note written in Greek,

_Thought you might not want to leave this alone in your cabin. Your parents might try and steal it now that they know where it is. Keep up with the good work and make sure to write everything down! ~Aphrodite, Goddess of Love <3 _

Under the note was his journal, the one that he kept locked in the drawer in his cabin. Nico looked at it and then back at Percy. He shrugged and kept eating his sandwich, ignoring the way that Percy looked at it with fear in his eyes. He asked casually,

“So is that like your journal or something? Why would Aphrodite have it?” He looked at Percy expecting an answer. Percy sighed and turned to Nico.

“Well yeah it’s basically a journal where I write things that happen down. But, she somehow got a hold of it because I also happen to sometimes write my feelings in there too!” Nico’s eyes grew wide as he started to get why Percy was so freaked out. “It was in a locked drawer at camp; how did she get it?!” Nico put his hand on the Journal and forced Percy to put it down.

“She’s the Goddess of Love. I’m sure she reads everyone’s diaries. Now eat your sandwich.”

“How can I eat now that I know she knows all of my secrets, besides the fact that now my dad knows where it is! He can be such a creep sometimes; I bet you he will try to get it!”

“He probably already read it; but that’s not important. You’re getting worked up over nothing.”

“It’s not nothing!”

“Did you write porn in there?”

“What? No!”

“Then you have nothing to worry about.”

Percy sighed, clearly defeated, and relented. As he ate the last sandwich on the plate there was another knock on the door. Paul entered looking slightly nervous, like he always does, and cleared his throat.

“Sally said its time for board games and wants you two hooligans to play.” Percy grinned at Nico, the diary forgotten for the moment, as they got up and practically ran to the living room. There, Sally stood with almost every board game known to man, with a few that weren’t. They played the classics first, sometimes with a demigod twist that made Paul even more confused. Their Clue game ended with The Hydra in the office with a javelin. Percy only called Paul “Blowfish” three times and Nico somehow managed to win almost every game. After several hours, Paul managed to wipe the Monopoly board clean and Nico almost broke the board itself. While Sally went to take the lasagna out of the oven Nico challenged Percy to an arm wrestling contest, which they held on the floor for the table’s sake. Paul watched in horror as it turned into full on battle training. Nico was faster than Percy but Percy was more experienced. Nico made a quick jab to the abdomen that was blocked and he wasn’t quick enough to pull away, Percy grabbing his arm and twisting it behind him. Nico kicked Percy’s knee out and twisted around and held him in a headlock. Fortunately, Percy was stronger than Nico and managed to get his leg out and trip Nico into flipping over the top of him and body slamming him into the floor. Paul was fearful that they were injured; however both were smiling and laughing hard, talking in technical terms of what to do differently next time. Sally came in and told them to get off the floor and look sharp. Paul was amazed of how neither of them seemed to be hurt at all, quickly sitting at the table. They looked at each other and each took a portion of their food and put it off to the side of the plate, thanking the Gods. The meal was delicious and no one wanted to move after finishing. That’s when Sally piped up,

“How about we watch a movie?” after a collective nod from everyone, they moved to the living room. There was only one couch so Percy and Nico sat on the floor leaving the adults to it. The movie itself wasn’t very interesting, especially to the two ADHD kids on the floor, but they were having some fun of their own. Percy’s fingers twitched on his leg, until others laced themselves between. Nico wasn’t looking at him, his eyes on the screen, but even in the dark light of the room Percy could see the blush that had spread over his face. Percy laughed to himself and laid his head on Nico’s shoulder making the other tense up. He looked over and Percy gave him a witty smile, making him relax back into the foot of the couch. Percy snuggled up as close as he could because, despite everyone always saying Nico was as cold as the dead in the ground, he was super warm right now. Percy’s eyes felt heavy from such an uneventful, eventful day, and slowly he began to drift off to sleep on Nico’s shoulder. Not that Nico wasn’t tired either because the second he rested his head against Percy’s he nodded off as well.

Sally was the first to notice them. She smiled at the boys who had fallen asleep on each other. She nudged Paul and nodded at them. He stifled a giggle before helping Sally up, each taking a kid and carrying them to Percy’s room. Sally put Percy in the bed, pulling up the blanket up and wishing him a good night, before pulling the trundle out. Paul laid Nico down and Sally returned from the hallway with another blanket. As she fixed Nico’s bed Paul noticed that despite pulling them apart Percy and Nico still faced each other, Percy’s arm unconsciously reaching out. Something struck him odd about that, but he left with Sally, turning out the light as they went.

Not that they would know, but the second Sally and Paul moved them, Percy and Nico had awoken. Call it instinct or simply shuffling, they had been awake for the whole “tuck in” scene. Percy leaned over the side of his bed and looked at Nico, who looked back. Percy smiled and shuffled back as Nico got up, moving to get in with Percy. They had done this enough to know that they fit together like a glove and it was going to happen anyways; so why not? Under the heat of the blanket Nico snuggled himself into Percy’s arms, tucking his head into the open spot on Percy’s collarbone. Percy wrapped his legs around Nico’s and chuckled as Nico nestled his shoulder.

“Hey. Good night.” He whispered as he kissed the top of Nico’s head, like he had always wanted to do during those late nights at camp. Nico hummed in response, already nearly asleep, and kissed the open skin on Percy’s collarbone. Together they fell asleep just like they have been for the past summer; in each other’s arms.

 ***

The doorbell rang at approximately 8:30 and a sleepy Sally went to answer it. There, looking rather frazzled, was Annabeth. She seemed to be in a hurry, impatiently tapping her foot up and down constantly.

“Where’s Percy? We need him like now.” She didn’t wait for Sally to answer, pushing past her and practically running to Percy’s room. She swallowed hard, having not seen him since the fight, and slammed open the door only to pause. Not only was Nico Di Angelo here, but he was peanut butter and jellied to Percy, both fast asleep. She would have been pissed if there wasn’t something urgent happening. She swiftly walked over and pulled on Percy’s ear making him cry out and jolt awake.

“Ouch! Annabeth what the heck are you doing here?!” he whisper-yelled at her, trying not to wake Nico up.

“Riots have broken out at camp and they need you there promptly” Percy noted that she had said “they need you” instead of “we need you” she clearly was not over the fight yet.

“You’re going to have to ask nicer than that to get me to go out with you. Nico and I were sleeping, thank you very much.” Annabeth took a step back with a look of absolute disgust on her face. She sputtered and took a more direct approach.

“We have to go now, Nico and You, both.” She left no room for Percy’s snappy comments, leaving the room before he could reply. Nico blinked and looked at Percy with sleepy eyes,

“Was that your ex-girlfriend?”

“Yeah, I guess we got to go back to camp.”

_“Fanculo.”_

“Nico don’t swear in Italian. It’s rude.” Although as he said it, he laughed because it pretty much summed up everything. They got up and stretched, well rested from a surprisingly peaceful sleep.  The basket by the door had been washed, their clothes neatly folded on top. There was no time for wandering eyes today, the camp was broken out in unnecessary fights and they needed to get there pronto. They changed quickly and met Annabeth by the door, Nico fishing his sword out of the umbrella rack, and Sally handing them packets of Pop Tarts. They gave big hugs to Sally and waved as they left, glad for the home away from home vacation, even though it was only a day. Annabeth speed walked to the elevator pressing the button repeatedly until the door opened. They got in and watched as Annabeth tapped her foot, practically bouncing up and down. They had to run to keep up with her but when they exited, Argos was waiting in a taxi. They climbed in with Nico squished in the middle. As they started the 3 hour drive back to Montauk, Percy leaned forward to speak to Annabeth, who was refusing to make eye contact with him.

“So, care to explain the situation in detail please?” Annabeth didn’t look over, but she did manage to sigh as loud as possible.

“Well there was a chariot race yesterday and some of the horses, and or, cabins decided to go a little haywire and leave the track, trying to take each other down.  They just happened to roll in and all over the strawberry fields.” She couldn’t see, but Percy raised his eyebrow, but before he could ask, she continued, “Apparently the nymphs and satyrs have had enough of the campers ruining the field with various things and started an uprising or something. There is fighting all over camp and Chiron doesn’t know what to do. Obviously, you are the only one that can fix it.”

“I don’t like that tone you’re taking.”

“Shut up Percy. No one asked you.”

“Stay away from that owl over there Nico she’ll peck your eyes out.”

“Will you hush? You stupid boy!”

“Ooh getting feisty over here.”

Annabeth groaned and refused to talk the rest of the drive. Percy had a lovely chat with Nico about what Paul’s strategy was in Monopoly and they tried really hard to remember what had happened in that movie before Percy started freaking out about his diary again. Nico then spent the rest of the time telling him to calm down because “no one was going to steal his secrets” When they pulled into the camp, Percy regained his senses. Annabeth wasn’t lying when she said there was fighting everywhere. By the looks of it the campers had gone from just fighting the nymphs and satyrs to fighting each other as well.  As they exited the car and arrow flew past and almost lit Percy’s hair on fire.

“Bless it! They’re using flaming arrows now? What has this world come to?” They ducked and dodged their way to The Big House, watching as the volleyball net went up in flames. Chiron was waiting for them at the porch his horse legs shifting constantly. He ushered them into the house and shut the door. He sighed and turned to them, taking a large breath,

“I don’t know what to do. No one will listen to me and Dionyusus is up at Olympus dealing with some personal problems. I’m at a loss for what to do.” Percy looked at Annabeth, since she had the best battle plans but she looked just as lost. He thought hard and all he could come up with was something so large and crazy that everyone would stop to look at it and then he could tell them to stop this foolishness.

“I’ve got an idea. Come on Nico I’m going to need your expertise.” Annabeth and Chiron looked at each other as the two ran out, back into the mass fighting, worry on their faces.

Swords clashed. Axes took out shields. People were lying on the ground, wounded. But, all of a sudden the ground started to rumble. Throughout the whole camp the ground started to shake with the force of a powerful earthquake. Campers wobbled, some even fell down, but what really mattered was the fact that most of the fighting had stopped because everyone could hardly stand straight. Then, bounding through the entire camp was Percy, flying on Blackjack, holding the largest leash attached to the one and only pet Hellhound, Mrs. O’Leary.

“WHAT THE HECK ARE ALL OF YOU DOING? I LEAVE FOR ONE DAY AND I COME BACK TO A FULL-ON CAMP WAR! YOU ARE FIGHING OVER A FREAKING MAGICAL STRAWBERRY FIELD THAT LITERALLY CANNOT BE DESTROYED! CAMPERS STOP TRASHING IT. NYMPHS AND SATYRS, SAY SOMETHING NEXT TIME AND WE WILL ADDRESS IT CALMLY! EVERYONE BACK TO THE CABINS OR THE FOREST. WE ARE DONE HERE!”

The ground stopped shaking and everyone just kind of stood around before mulling back to the cabins or the forest. Chiron and Annabeth stepped out with looks of surprise on their faces. Will and the rest of the infirmary staff ran out to treat the wounded. Grover emerged and took Mrs. O’Leary by the leash, not looking Percy in the eye for letting this happen while he was gone. Percy landed and gave Blackjack a sugar cube. _”Thanks Boss!”_ Blackjack said before flying off back to the Pegasus stables. Nico stumbled out from behind The Big House, clearly exhausted from creating such a large earthquake over the whole camp.  Percy helped him stand up as they walked back over to Chiron and Annabeth.  Percy was about to make some snotty comment, like he always did, but they weren’t looking at them, they were looking directly behind them.

“Please don’t be The Hydra or The Manticore. Please, please, please.” When Percy turned him and Nico around, however, there stood his dad in the typical Hawaiian shirt and shorts and Hades in a nice Black suit and red tie.  In Poseidon’s hand was Percy’s journal and almost instantly the blood drained from Percy’s face.

“Hey dad… you didn’t happen to read that did you?” Poseidon’s eyes lit up with joy and Hades laughed, which was an awful sound; like nails on a chalkboard.

“We happened to read most of it actually. You’re very good at story telling young man.” Nico seemed to perk up,

“What did it say?” Percy looked at him in horror but Nico merely shrugged. “Hey a boyfriend has a right to know.” Percy’s jaw dropped and he looked back and forth between their parents and his apparent “boyfriend”

“Uh dad, it’s not what it looks like, I swear… _stercore…_ okay it’s exactly what it looks like.” Both Gods laughed again and Nico seemed to have regained his balance, probably trying not to look so weak in the presence of his father. Poseidon walked up and put his hand on Percy’s shoulder and winked at him, Hades in the background with his hand on his hip.

“Son, I will always be proud of you know matter what choices you decide to make. But, we must say in this case, you made the right one.” Hades mumbled out,

“Took you long enough! We’ve been watching you this whole summer. About time you got rid of that bitchy Athena child.” Percy threw his hands up in frustration and from behind them Annabeth made a sound similar to that of a half dead cat. Poseidon handed the journal back over to Percy and gave a strong shoulder pat before turning and disappearing. Hades nodded at Nico and gave a brief thumbs up before he disappeared as well.

“Well I have to say that was one of the most awkward family chats I’ve ever had.” Nico spilled out before reaching for Percy again. Except instead of latching onto Percy like he wanted to, Will Solace was there. As head doctor he is supposed to treat wounded, but Nico was just tired and he wanted his boyfriend not this guy.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you. Come on I’ll take you back to the infirmary.” Nico looked at the boy who had his arm wrapped around him. He had learned that Will was bisexual early this summer and he had thought about him, almost as much as he thought about Percy, but now that Will was so close, he didn’t like it. He was just about as bright as the sun, like his father, and just a little too upbeat. Why was he here getting Nico, who was just wobbly on his feet at best, when there was campers who needed stitches. Nico had had enough. He pushed Will away and stumbled before regaining his footing.

“No _Will_ go treat actual patents. I’d rather Percy take care of me thank you very much.”

“You picked him over me? Really? I would have thought better of you.”

Will scoffed off and Nico fell heavily into Percy’s arms.  Together they walked back to Fireworks Beach, where they took their shoes off and ran around in the sand. Nico rolled up his pant legs (Not to get them wet, of course) and they splashed along the shoreline. It was a bad idea obviously and Nico got soaked anyways, Percy making secret sneaky water attacks. Percy let himself get wet to however and promptly let Nico try and drown him in the sea water.

“Nico did you mean it?” Percy turned to Nico as they sat on the sandy beach. Nico didn’t turn immediately, the sun reflecting off of his pale skin making look almost like it was glowing. When he finally did turn, His normally dark eyes were alight with a sort of inner violet, a small smile making him look more innocent than Percy had ever seen him before.

“Of course I did. I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t believe it. I’ve had a huge crush on you from the second that I met you and honestly I would feel much better if you were taking care of me rather than Will, who only seems to want to get in my pants.” Percy’s mouth opened as he took that in. whether because of his fatal flaw or not, Percy felt the same way. He had never quite put the puzzle pieces together on way he didn’t feel right with Annabeth; he realized his heart was somewhere else the whole time. Why had he made picnics for Nico and not for his own girlfriend should have made it pretty clear. He thought about his journal and remembered that even back then his subconscious had known. Not to mention they had practically slept together the whole summer.

“My brain must really be full of seaweed if it took me this long to figure it out. You should have made a move sooner.”

“Well I thought getting in bed with you and snuggling would have been enough. You were the one with a bitchy girlfriend. “

“Sorry.”

They laughed until Nico shoved Percy and suddenly they were rolling around in the sand, a mass of limbs flying around. When they stopped Nico was laying on top of Percy, his face inches from the others, a smile gracing his face. Percy grinned and reached up and pecked him on the lips, a blush spreading immediately. 

“Wait. Breakfast first.”

“Why do I feel like we’ve been through this before?”

_“Idiota.”_

“You are so rude!”

Nico giggled and they got up, dusting the sand off their clothes, and heading the short distance to the mess hall for breakfast. Down, way down, in Hades office, Poseidon and his brother watched as their sons walked with hands intertwined and smiled to themselves.

“So who’s going to top?”


End file.
